


Maybe you weren't always there, but it is ok (you are now)

by soft_cactus



Category: Spider-Man - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Based on a Real Event, Based on a real person, Dysfunctional Family, Family Secrets, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Injury, Lack of Communication, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Secrets, Sports, Swearing, Talking, Tony Feels, he really is, tony is Trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22303447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_cactus/pseuds/soft_cactus
Summary: (AU - no superpowers)Peter does extreme sports and posts videos of it on YouTube. During a tricky stunt in which he jumps out of a helicopter, he gets hurt. The problem? His father Tony doesn't know about his habits of doing extreme sports and came to visit him.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	Maybe you weren't always there, but it is ok (you are now)

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this started out as kinda humor but turned into angst and fluff? Oh well, I like it.   
> I literally just wrote this because I'm binge-watching Fabio Wimber atm. If you've seen the specific video this is inspired from you will see how Peter is literally just Fabio Wibmer
> 
> (Also, I plan on adding a lot of other one-shots to the series, because I honestly really like this AU and would like to explore Peters childhood a bit more)

With a short nod Ned confirmed the camera was rolling and Peter inhaled the cold air in with a deep breath before turning to the camera.

"Hello guys, we are at the last spot of the whole video, and it is the helicopter scene, which is actually the first scene, but whatever. We could only now film it because it is very complicated to find a helicopter you can jump out on a bike."

He looked up to the snow groomer and continued: "Yeah, that was a pain in the ass. Anyways, now we are here, the snow groomer is preparing the landing zone and we are making last adjustments. I hope everything works out... and yeah. We're just waiting for the helicopter, he should be here any second."

His cameraman and best friend, Ned, lowered the camera and gave him a thumbs up. Peter stretched his arms and shuddered at the cold air. They were so high on this mountain, he did not look forward to doing any stunts without his jacket, it.

They had been filming here for the last few days and so far everything went well. There were no major injuries, no stunts he had to repeat a lot of times, no lost footage.

This video should be one of his best, hopefully. It was the first big video he was producing ever since he signed a contract with Redbull and it was relieving not to have to pay for everything yourself. They had been planning this video for a long time but never had the money for it.

Peter couldn't ask his dad, he didn't know Peter was doing any of it. Luckily Peter never got majorly hurt when he was underage and ever since he was old enough to pay for himself his dad wasn't informed when he was in the hospital.

He loved his father, he truly did. But Tony was protective and thinks Peter was simply going to college in Europe. And Peter did. Just... 1. not what his father wanted him to study (he went to college for sports management and his father wanted him to go there for science) and 2. he did his true passion at the same time.

And he had to admit, this was a lot more important to him than college. Riding his bike.

Sounded lame at first, but it wasn't so lame when just yesterday he rode down a skiing slope, jumped over a 50ft gap onto the roof of a hut and jumped down on the other side. Or when he jumped over a cathedral. Or when he was about to jump out of a helicopter onto a skiing slope. 

It was an extreme sport and more than once had he been in the hospital because of it. That was the good thing about his father. His father loved him and had always supported him, but he was busy. So busy, they only saw each other for Christmas when Peter came back to the US for a few days.

This video was supposed to be stunning, exciting and funny. It had a basic storyline: he rode down his bike a skiing slope and the police were after him on skies. A really simple concept and yet so fun.

Peter traveled a lot to film these videos, mainly Europe but he had seen other parts too. He had over 500 million views on his channels and over 3 million followers, he was lucky Tony never heard of him. Partly because he used his mother's old name in these videos, Peter Parker instead of Peter Stark.

"Peter!" Ned called out and Peter saw the helicopter landing a few feet down on a more even ground. Peter quickly walked down and shook hands with the pilot. He was asked a few questions and showed them exactly what he would do so there would be no surprises. They in return just told him to be careful.

Peter just smiled and nodded, adrenaline rushing through his body. Finally, he got into the helicopter, Ned behind him and filming him as they looked out of the open door onto Austria. They lowered themselves until he was about 10 feet above the slope and he got ready.

Put on his helmet and just breathed for a few seconds, before he jumped. He had to get onto the bike while falling, steady himself, nail the landing, not lose his grip on the snow and then just ride down enough to make it look smooth.

He got onto the bike, felt the pedals under his feet and braced himself for hitting the ground. The moment he made contact with the snow he knew he would fall. It was slippery and he felt his bike lose grip and disappear from under him. He fell onto his side and groaned for a second, before getting up.

One of his guys held his thumbs up and down, a sign to ask if he was injured and he put his own thumb up. The helicopter flew down the landing platform and Peter got onto it again. Second try.

When they were in position, he took off his headset, his helmet on and jumped. When he hit the slope he felt the bike move uncomfortably strong under him, but he kept his balance and rode off. "YEAH!" He cheered and when he was down far enough he simply let himself drop off his bike on purpose, still cheering.

Adrenaline made everything a 10 and he quickly jumped up again, the crowd of 30 bystanders who were really confused about what he was doing was still cheering as the helicopter returned to the landing spot. One of his guys collected his bike from wherever it flew to and they returned to the helicopter.

The camera crew was already waiting for them and he looked at the footage. "This looks awesome!", Peter exclaimed and the others nodded. "But maybe we should try from a bit higher." He added and his team nodded again.

In hindsight, they should've been worried, at least a bit. But they all became reckless over years of no major injuries. Peter remembered what people who just joined the crew said about him. That he was crazy and couldn't be in his right mind and they weren't wrong.

Not only here, but in general he did tricks that could seriously injure him, maybe even disable him for a lifetime. But he couldn't help himself. Being sheltered from this kind of danger his whole youth by his father made him an adrenaline addict. He knew it was dangerous, but where was the fun without danger.

So he went up a third time, this time about 13-15 feet, he wasn't sure. "Good luck dude." Someone said before he took off his headset and put on his helmet.

He tightened his grip on the bike and stood up on the side of the helicopter. He jumped and was earlier than the last few times on his bike. But he balanced himself wrong, his body was a bit next to the center of the bike, so when he hit the ground he was majorly unbalanced.

He felt himself being flung forward and hitting the handlebar. He let go and fell to the side, sliding down the hill his body went stiff in pain and he continued sliding down the mountain a few feet until he finally came to hold.

It wasn't the worst pain he ever felt, it was even bearable as he was already numb because of the cold and adrenaline. He rolled onto his back and quickly tried to clear his mind so he could assess his injuries. His collarbone was definitely broken. "Shit..." he cursed and heard someone run towards him through the snow, but he stayed still on the ground to avoid any more pain.

He forced himself to breathe and looked sideways. His team seemed to be panicking. He knew they were worried, he always got back up. Always.

So he forced himself to sit up and ripped his skiing glasses off his face. He heard someone from the crew call out: "Are you hurt?" He just answered as loud as he could: "My collarbone!" They immediately got their phones out to hopefully call the alpine rescue services.

When he looked over Ned had almost reached him and he said with more annoyance than pain in his voice: "My collarbone is wrecked." His friend kneeled down and asked: "Broken?" "Yeah."

Slowly the adrenaline wore off and the pain became stronger. His other friend, MJ, reached him and leaned over him. "Stay down dude, we don't know if you have anything on your neck." "Alright... Ah, Fuck."

"We called rescue services. They should be here soon." Peter didn't answer. He was very much aware his career could be over. He wanted too much. He had seen how icy it was before, but as always he didn't learn from it.

Not even 5 painful minutes later he saw the snowmobiles of the alpine rescue services head towards them and two paramedics came up the hill with a stretcher. "Hey dude, you alright?" One of them asked and luckily Ned answered for him. "He injured his collarbone, probably broken."

"Alright, this is what we will do. You have to stay extremely still and we will take you to a hospital down in the valley, and one of your friends has to fill out the papers." Ned took the papers and filled them out while the rescuers carefully took his helmet off and stabilized his neck.

He whimpered in pain and hissed: "I feel my bones rubbing against each other..." Ned gave him a worried look and one of the rescuers muttered: "I'll get some painkillers for you."

"At least this will get the behind the scenes some good views." MJ joked and Peter gave her a strained smile. Thankfully he accepted the pill of painkillers, and MJ picked up the camera and directed it at Peter.

Without missing a beat he said: "Oh well, shit. Things like this can happen, especially with stunts like this one. But... Yeah." He laughed awkwardly and MJ took a few steps back to make space for the paramedics. Suddenly Ned laughed at the papers and read out loud: "Ski pass number."

MJ and Peter chuckled at that, it was obvious Peter didn't have one as he was here on his bike, not on his skis. It was a stupid thing to laugh at but simple enough to ease the tension. Soon Ned was finished with his paperwork and said: "Dude, you still have to sign."

The paramedic quickly cut in: "Don't move your arms, 1. it will hurt like a bitch and 2. it could worsen the injury." For a moment they thought until Ned grinned, stood up and put the pen into Peter's mouth.

They had to stifle their laughter as Peter tried to sign with the pen in his mouth. Peter growled through the pen: "You try to sing like that, dickhead!" MJ and Ned only laughed even harder and Peter couldn't help but chuckled when he saw the finished signature.

It didn't look anything like his real signature but the paramedic shrugged and said: "It'll be enough, considering the circumstances."

While the paramedic checked his neck for obvious injuries he asked: "Any allergies?" Peter shook his head slightly and said: "Not as far as I know. Well, I have one against him." He pointed towards Ned who laughed in return and showed him his middle finger. MJ, who was still filming, said: "Well, you can already joke again, you'll be fine."

Finally, they were ready with checking him over and together with Ned and a few from his team they lifted him onto the stretcher. He was still sitting and carefully they lowered him back onto his back which made him cry out in pain when he felt his broken bones rub against each other again.

They picked him up to carry him to the snowmobiles. Ned called after him: "I'll see you in the hospital dude!" MJ waved and threatened: "Get well soon loser, I don't have a job without you!" Peter smiled and pointed his middle finger to their general direction. 

* * *

After all of the scans were performed Peter found himself in his own room. He would have surgery in two days until then he would just lie here and not do anything. It gave him an opportunity to study for his exams he would soon have but didn't really care for. It was hard to care for them when he was already having more thn most average working people.

He was told Ned was here and on his way to see him. Peter hoped they didn't need any more scenes as he surely would not by able to do that stunt for at least three months and it was supposed to be published in less than one.

He was also worried about the Redbull sponsorship. An injury like that could potentially affect it, especially this early in their work relationship.

Suddenly Ned barged in. "Peter! What did they say?" Peter gave him a short smile and told him: "I definitely broke my collarbone, I'll get surgery in two days. My hip is severely bruised, I have a slight concussion and a few muscles are strained. Here and there a bruise, so nothing major."

"But you will fully recover?" He asked with a nervous tone and Peter shrugged, only to flinch at the pain. "I guess. Unless they fuck up my surgery I should be fine."

Ned let himself drop to a chair on his side and said: "I just got a text from MJ, the footage from your second jump is good and we can use parts of your third jump because you nailed the beginning and the drop, until... Well. Anyways, no you are not delaying the publishing."

Peter let out a breath of relief he didn't know he was holding and muttered: "Thank god." Ned laughed and nodded. Then he seemed to remember something and handed Peter his phone and charger.

"MJ said she'll come by when everything else is taken care off, I guess she'll be here in an hour or so." Peter nodded and unlocked his phone. he had a few massages from his crew telling him to get better and asking if he was alright. Peter decided not to open any of them, he'd text back when Ned was gone, it'd take a while to text with one hand.

"How about we give our followers a tease?" He asked instead and opened Instagram. Ned took a photo of him in a hospital bed. Peter grinned wildly and held up his signature hand gesture he always did in pictures.

He wrote on it: "Look out for our new video, the last scene we filmed sent me to the hospital". When it was in his story he locked his phone again and put his functioning hand onto his head.

"At least I get some time off this way." Ned gave him a worried look and Peter instantly regretted his words. Ned was always worried Peter didn't give himself enough rest, and this comment did not help.

Before he could say anything Peters phone vibrated and he quickly looked at it. His dad was calling. "Fuck..." He muttered before quickly picking up. "Hey, dad!" Neds eyebrows shot into the air but he stayed quiet.

"Hey, kid! What's up?" Peter bit his lip. "Not much... Um, why are you calling again? I'm kinda in the middle of something." Instead of answering his dad was silent for a second and then asked: "So, where are you right now?" Peter frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Tony laughed. "Kid, it is dead quiet in the background. It is Friday evening in Austria, you don't have to lie about not being at a party, you're almost 23." Peter laughed awkwardly and promised: "No, I'm not at a party..." Before he could think of a good way to continue, the door opened and a nurse came in. "Hello Mr. Stark, how are you doing?"

She held a tray with food in her hand but despite his hunger, Peter didn't really care about that. In a panicked voice and said: "Um, I'm going to call you back." And hung up. He put his phone into airplane mode and tried to play his panic off in front of the nurse.

When the nurse left the room again he just stared at his food in horror at what just happened. "Maybe he didn't pick up on it?" Ned tried but it was obvious he didn't believe it himself.

"No, my dad hears everything through the phone. He sighed. Fuck. He tried to joke his problems away and decided: "I'm just going to pretend this didn't happen and eat." It was obvious he was lying and would continue to worry until he talked to his dad. Ned forced himself to laugh nonetheless. "Well, in that case, I won't bother you anymore." He gave Peter a brofist and then left his room.

Peter did eat, way to slow than it was normal as he was trying to stall. But after almost 35 minutes he sighed and got his phone out. He had an excuse ready in his head. It would work, he had given worse excuses for random bruises and cuts in the last years.

He had two missed calls from his dad and quickly called back. "Sorry, I wanted to call you back but my phone died." Was the first thing he said and his dad immediatly asked: "Where were you?"

"I was at the doctor's office, I have a cold and got some medicine prescribed." He heard a slight tone of worry in his dad's voice as he asked: "And where are you now?"

"I just got home and charged my phone to call you back." There was a long silence before Tony spoke softly: "Why are you lying to me?" Peter froze and didn't answer.

Tony continued after a few seconds: "Peter, I am in front of your apartment right now. You didn't come home and the lights are off. It looks like you're not even home as in you left the city. Peter, where are you?"

Peter didn't say a word. Anxiety filled his chest and he tensed. "Um, I can explain..." "Peter, don't you dare lie to me again. Just tell me where you are. I mean, if it is about your secret career, it is not a big deal. I mean, I'm not a fan, but do you really think I care this much?"

"You... You know." Peter gasped. "And you never said anything?" "Pete, it was pretty obvious. I mean, yeah I would've been happier if you actually studied physics or something, but I'm not mad that you chose sports management."

"Oh. You know... that." The moment he said those words in a reliefed tone he realized his mistake. "What else is there to know?" "Um... I..."

Maybe it was just time to lay it all in the open. He didn't want to, but he couldn't be bothered to lie his way out of this one. "Just come here. I will explain, I promise."

"Ok, where are you?" Peter hesitated and then said in a small voice: "Hospital Waldbergtal." He stumbled over the Austrian name a bit, but he felt like Tony understood him nonetheless.

"Give me an hour. 45 minutes if I ignore the speed limits." Before Peter could say a word his dad hung up. Peter stared at his phone. Now there was no denying it anymore. He would have to tell his dad.

Of course, he knew he had to eventually, but it was still so sudden. So he did what he always did when he had no idea what to do. He quickly dialed MJs number.

"Hey, loser, what's up? How are you?" She greeted him and Peter sighed. "Um so yeah, no but that is not why I'm calling. Like medically I am not ok, but I also have a problem an-..."

MJ interrupted him: "Stop rambling and wait a second." Peter stopped and took a deep breath. Before he could even finish said breath the door opened and MJ stepped through the door.

Peter smiled and MJ couldn't help but smile back. MJ had a hard shell, but when you actually got through she had the softest heart. She cared a great deal about Peter and the other way around, nothing romantic though. Ew.

MJ sat down on the chair next to his bed and asked: "What did the doctors say?" Peter decided that he did not have time for this and changed topics: "I have a bigger problem at the moment."

MJ just lifted an eyebrow and Peter said with a tense voice: "Um, so, my dad is coming here. Right now. He knows I'm actually going to college for sports management and is pretty mad that I lied." MJ looked at him for a long moment before asking: "So, you will tell him everything?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Should he tell everything? He was tired of hiding it. He had to look like he was doing literally nothing here. He had to look like such a failure compared to his younger brother.

Of course, Peter knew doing sports was not even close to impressive to Tony the way doing science stuff was, but he could at least prove he was doing something right. He just wanted to prove he did accomplish something, completely alone, without any help from his father.

"I think so. But how? Dad is... difficult. He had a hard childhood, his dad was a real dick. I don't want him to think he is like his own father." MJ leaned back and asked: "How would you do that?"

Peter stopped for a second. MJ knew who his father really was but she hadn't ever really met him. She didn't know what he was like. "I think... He will probably think I kept this from him because I didn't trust him or something like that."

"Peter, I don't want to make this a therapy session, but why did you not tell him?" Peter shot her a look and asked: "I thought I told you already?"

"Of course you told me, but remind yourself. Why did you not tell your dad about your extremely successful career? Why did you not tell him about your millions of fans? Why did you not tell him that you accomplished so much alone?"

Peter bit his lip. "One, I was never his favorite child. He always liked Harley more than me, especially after I got more interested in sports. Harley was always more interested in the stuff he likes, at least he pretends. Hell, he goes to MIT."

"You could've gone to MIT. But you didn't." MJ interrupted him and he shot her a long look. "I didn't want to. I may be smarter than the average person, but I can't just sit around all day, I need the adrenaline." At that MJ rolled her eyes and muttered: "Junkie."

"Well, two, Tony is... special. He loves me, I know that, but every time I do something myself he tries to help me and makes it about himself. Like when I first earned money myself without dad and bought my first bike. He gave it away and bought the best that was out there, but I wanted to ride the bike I earned. I know he doesn't mean anything bad by it but-"

"Peter." MJ gave him a stern look and Peter calmed down. "I'm sorry I'm just anxious, I guess. I don't want him to be disappointed, you know?" MJ smiled but shook her head. In that moment Peter swore. "Fuck, sorry MJ I didn't think how this is affecting you..."

MJ smiled. "Peter, just because I grew up in the system doesn't mean I haven't had experiences with parents. And maybe I can even think more clearly because I can judge your dad individually and not compare him with my parents. It's ok, I'll always be there for you." Peter smiled and fake sniffled.

"And now, tell me what the doctor said!" Peter laughed and told her everything. The more time passed the more anxious he grew and kept glancing at the clock.

After 40 minutes since the call had gone by the door burst open and Peter couldn’t help but jump at the student noise. When Peter had collected himself he smiled at the man who had just come in. „Hey dad,“ He said weakly and gave him an innocent smile. 

His dad stared at him for a short moment but then firmly asked: „Peter, what the fuck happened?“ Only then his eyes met MJ, who gave him a fake-smile and stood up. 

"I'll leave you two to it." She smiled at Peter and said: "Get well soon loser, or I'll personally kick your ass." Without another word she left the room and left the two Starks in a tense silence behind.  


* * *

Tony was impressed with himself. He managed to get to the hospital in 40 minutes. After almost killing the woman at the reception he was finally given the room number and leaped through the hospital.

The moment he saw the door he ripped it open and stormed into the room. For a second he thought he was in the wrong room. He almost didn't recognize his own son. It had been a while since the two had seen each other and Peter changed so much.

His once black hair was blonde, almost white. His formerly pale skin was now a golden-tan and even though it wasn't extremely obvious in the lying position under the blanket, but he was obviously more muscular. Not in a bulky way, but athletic. He didn't look anything like Tony anymore even though they looked so similar once.

"Hey, dad." Hey dad? Did he really just say that as if the first time they see each other in years isn't in a hospital? „Peter, what the fuck happened?“

A movement he caught from the corner of his eyes made him look there to see a pretty girl around Peter's age. She sighed and looked at his son. "I'll leave you two to it. Get well soon loser, or I'll personally kick your ass." Damn, he really hoped she'd never meet Pepper.

She gave him a kinda sarcastic smile and just walked out. The room was filled in silence and Tony tried to calm down. Being angry wouldn't help improve this situation. Peter never was a confrontial person and mostly just closed up when being snapped at.  


He slowly sat down where Peter's friend sat before him and with a voice as calm as he could he asked: "What are your injuries?" 

Peter gave him a short look of surprise before looking at his toes. For the third time that day, he repeated: "A few bruises and scratches across my body. My hip is severely bruised and my collarbone is broken. I also have a slight concussion and a few muscles are strained." 

Tony nodded and let the injuries run through his head again. "How long have you been here? In the hospital?" Peter looked at the clock and guessed: "In this room for like 2 hours but in the hospital a lot longer, like 5-8 hours. I honestly don't know when I crashed."

Slowly the older man nodded before asking: "So, you crashed your car? I must admit, that are some uncommon injuries for car crashes." Peter looked at him in confusion. "What? No, I didn't crash my car. I crashed my bike."

Now it was Tonys turn to be confused. He thought he caught his son in another lie, but he crashed his bike? "What? Okay wait, just give me the full story."

Peter nodded slowly. "Alright, um. So, there is something I never really told you about me. I am... a professional biker." He waited for a tirade about how that was no future (rationally he knew his father wouldn't react like that, but way too often it had ended this way when he imagined the conversation).  


His dad stared at him. "A what?" Peter looked around, he was obviously uncomfortable with the situation. "A professional biker. Like, I get paid to do stunts and stuff. Do races, be in commercials, you know?" "Peter, can you please start at the beginning? I feel like I am missing a lot of details."

"Okay so..., before I even came to Europe I was fascinated with biking and did it more or less behind your back. When I came to Europe I embraced this hobby and it quickly became a passion. I noticed that I had talent for it and it did more for my mental health than therapy ever did. I started filming myself and put the videos on youtube. I built a pretty big fanbase pretty quickly and..." He smiled at the memories.

"I don't really know when I started earning money, but I did and from then on I only got better. Today I am kinda considered one of the best in the field. A rolemodel. I have done commercials with Mercedes, got sponsored by, among other companies, Sony and Redbull. I am now a Redbull athlete, so they pay for all of my stuff and make sure can make quality videos."

Peter didn't dare to look his father in the eyes. "Well, sometimes I get hurt. I don't think there has been a time for years when there haven't been at least one or two bruises on me. But sometimes, like today, I have even less luck and well, end up in the hospital."

The room was silent. Peter slowly lifted his gaze and saw his dad staring against the wall. With a pressed voice, he asked: "How did your injury happen today?" Peter looked down. "Well... I was jumping out of a helicopter with my bike. We already had the shot, but I wanted it from a bit higher and overestimated myself."

His dad glared at him and snapped: "You overestimated yourself? Didn't you have a team with you? People, to tell you not to do that? And why did you never tell me of this? I would've supported you, would've paid for equipment, damn it Peter!"

Peter grit his teeth. He never really bit back, always just swallowed his pride and nodded. He really wanted to tell his dad how he was thinking, but he just didn't want to argue. So again he just nodded, the annoyance still visible in his face.

"No Peter, you can't just 'yes sir' your way out of this! What if something happened? Why didn't you tell me? I could've supported you so much and-"

"Because I don't want you to support me!" Peter held his breath and clenched his fists. He never snapped at his dad. Never. He tried to collect himself but used the moment of shook and explained himself.

"I'm not Harley. I don't do what you like just so you spend time with me. I won't use your money so I can live comfortably and party. I work for my living. If you'd take a look at the account you created for me and transfer money to, you'd see I haven't used any of your money in the last two years."

His dad's eyes narrowed and he whipped out his phone. After a few seconds his eyes widened again and he stared at Peter. It was like he couldn't fathom why Peter wouldn't be using Tony's money.

Peter nodded in satisfaction and continued: "Dad, I built my own work, I have a team that depends on me and I did it all by myself. Without using your name, without using your money, without using your connections. I did it myself. And I just want you to be proud of me." His voice had a bit of desperation and pleading in it.

The man sat leaned forward and asked: "If you wanted me to be proud, why didn't you just tell me?" Peter looked down. Should he tell the truth? It would probably hurt him. But he was tired of lying. "You won't want to hear it. And I don't want to lie."

"Tell me, I won't get mad, I promise." Peter chuckled and bit his lip again. It wasn't that he thought his dad would be mad. He feared his dad would feel disrespected and hate Peter. Of course, he wouldn't do that, Peter knew that, but years of lying and keeping secrets made him overthink everything and create problems that weren't even there.

"You are amazingly smart and did things that are just incredible. You shut down your weapons factory, you reinvented the energy, car and phone market and did amazing things with your company. And you did all of that yourself, without anyone to help you." He stopped.

How could he say that Tony just got handed the company like it was nothing and Peter just couldn't do that?

"But you already had wealth. A company. A name. Connections. And I... I don't want that. I wanted to work for my success. Especially because Harley is your favorite child, I felt like a loser, like I had to build something myself, without you and your help. Like I had to prove to you I am a worthy son too, just in other ways. I needed to do this by myself."

Peter didn't look at his father as he continued with tears in his eyes: "My whole life I fought for your attention with Harley. But I always had a disadvantage. I just wasn't as interested in mechanics and science as he was. You spent almost everyday time with him in the lab. We saw each other at dinner. I tried to force myself to like science, but..."

His voice trailed off and he collected himself before continuing: "I wanted to show you that I was capable too. I know you think sports is completely worthless in the greater picture, but not to me. And I was scared you'd criticize me and take it away from me."

He looked down. "I'm sorry for lying to you, but I don't regret choosing this direction to take my life to. I am in a better state of mind and body. I enjoy what I do. I like it. I am good at it, like really good."

It was obvious he was done with his monologue and waited for his dad to answer. "Peter, my son, I'm sorry I gave you the impression you could not pursue your dreams because of me. I would've supported you if I knew how you felt, but if I am being honest I still don't understand why you won't take my money."

His voice was gentle and it was obvious he was trying hard to understand Peter. "What I mean is, Harley gladly takes my money to live. It is my job as your father to care for you."

"Yes, but I am not Harley. I am your son, not a copy of you. I love you and I'm proud to be your son, but I had to prove to myself that I was more than just your son. That I wasn't just Tony Starks son but Peter Stark."

For a long moment, his dad seemed to think. "I guess I know what you mean. I felt similar about my own dad, you know? But I thought I could break free by becoming my own person, it wasn't even up in the top reasons to shut down the company, but it was one of the reasons. I didn't realize you felt like this."

He looked at his son with sincerity in his eyes and said: "I will try to support you without making you feel like you don't deserve credit, but you need to be kind to me." He smiled and added with a hint of something Peter couldn't place in his eyes: "I'm used to paying everything for your brother."

Peter smiled and whispered: "Thank you." His dad stood up and gave him a kiss to the forehead. When he sat back down he grinned and Peter knew whatever was about to come would be his dad's attempt at lightening the mood.

"So, was that your girlfriend?" Peter laughed and ignored the pain at the movement. He felt like this was the most relaxed he'd felt around his dad in a long time and enjoyed it.

Maybe his recklessness wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> Tony is NOT a bad parent! This is just how Peter feels because Tony is bad at managing feelings and was overwhelmed with his sons! Maybe someday I will write a story on Tony's perspective of Peter's and Harley's childhood!


End file.
